


to lean on

by K_iddo



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: BIG Season 3 Spoilers, Conversations, Fluff, Johnny and Daniel being gentle with each other, M/M, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28558035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_iddo/pseuds/K_iddo
Summary: Johnny nearly says something to lighten it up like ‘you saying you would kill for me, LaRusso?’ But he doesn’t, because he realises it’s not a joke at all, it’s true, he would. Well, he would think about it at least.Would Johnny do the same for him?Daniel looks up at him then, locks him in place with his big, brown eyes.Yes, he would.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 31
Kudos: 257





	to lean on

Johnny never thought he would get to know Daniel enough to be able to pick up on his mood from the smallest quirks. Angry and scared had been the only two he’d ever seen from him when they were kids and they were simple; easy to spot, easy to understand.

Things are more complicated now. He can tell when he’s tired, sure, trying his best to be his most attentive self to the kids despite heavy blinks and just a little slowness in his moves; he can tell when he’s really annoyed and when he’s just acting like he is to play the more mature one, too. Anything noticeable and obvious, Johnny gets. 

At the moment, Daniel doesn’t seem tired or annoyed, he seems preoccupied, drifting off into his thoughts, distracted from class until Johnny nudges his arm with his elbow when he finally picks up on it.

It’s the distraction that gets his attention more than anything; from the beginning, Daniel has put his all into the classes to the point Johnny has often had to cut things off before the parents come wondering why their kids are so late home when Daniel just wanted to keep going, insisting  _ ‘they’ve almost got it, five more minutes.’  _

So when they’re back in the house after the kids have all left and Sam has gone upstairs for a shower, Johnny knows he has to ask him what’s wrong, because that’s the kind of thing they do now.

“You good?” Johnny asks, taking a bottle of water from Daniel’s stupid high-tech fridge.

“Yeah,” Daniel says, still seeming distracted as he tugs on the band around his head and drops it haphazardly onto the kitchen island. That’s weird, too, usually, he folds the thing up, all neat and careful. 

Johnny considers dropping the subject. He chugs half the bottle of water and watches Daniel unzip his blue sweatshirt and shrug it off. 

“You sure?” He tries again, not very good at trying to get people to open up to him when it feels like pulling teeth to have to do it himself. 

That time, Daniel doesn’t answer him, he just sighs and rests his hands on the back of a chair, head hanging between his shoulders for a moment, hair falling in his eye.

“Not here,” he says and turns away, “c’mon.”

Daniel leads him to the indoor dojo; they haven’t used it much, the middle of summer makes the garden a lot more comfortable for them all and the place still kind of makes Johnny feel like he’s stepping into some inner sanctum. 

It’s peaceful, Johnny can’t deny it, and he also can’t imagine how to start putting together a space that feels as naturally tranquil as it does. 

“Usually calms me down to be in here,” Daniel says, low voiced, slouching a little as he sits in the middle of the floor.    
  
Johnny follows his cue even though it feels weird to be sitting on the ground in front of each other cross-legged instead of in chairs like adults. Even now, Daniel’s a little more limber than him, his knees don’t crack like Johnny’s do when he lowers himself to the ground. 

“Not today?” He asks, feeling like this is a serious conversation and itching for a beer in his hand to make it easier. 

Daniel shakes his head, looking down at the ground - Johnny had clocked his mood right, his mind is elsewhere. 

“I coulda killed Kreese,” he says, not meeting Johnny’s eye. He doesn’t have to, the bluntness of it hits Johnny right in the chest anyway, “I really, actually thought about it.”

Johnny doesn’t know what to say, or if he should say anything at all. He’d wondered about it himself, if Daniel had actually been about to finish it that way, in the seconds before his family had shown up he’d even started to think of the lie he would tell to the cops to cover for him. 

“That is not alright,” Daniel shakes his head, looking pained, “that is so fucked up.”

“Hey,” Johnny reaches over and rests his hand on his knee - it just feels like the right thing to do, “he brought shit into your home, okay? Around your kids. Anyone would have felt that way. Trust me, I know.”

And like it always does, thinking of Robby hurts his chest so much he feels like he could collapse under the weight of his failure, so he tries to push it back.  _ ‘We’ll work on him,’ _ he thinks,  _ ‘I’ll get him eventually, I’ll become a person he wants to come to.’  _

“It wasn’t just that,” Daniel shakes his head, mercifully pulling Johnny out of his own thoughts, “that’s what got me there, yeah, I just saw red and I knew I was gonna beat the hell outta him…”

He seems to consider his words, eyes cast down. Johnny’s hand stays on his knee.

“But I don’t think it would’ve gone further than that if I hadn’t seen him choking you out,  _ again _ .” 

At that, Johnny feels his heart pick up significantly. 

“Couldn’t believe he -” Daniel struggles for the words, fists and jaw clenching like they do when he’s mad, “... acting like he cares about you then doing that?  _ Again _ ? That pushed me over the edge.”

Johnny nearly says something to lighten it up like  _ ‘you saying you would kill for me, LaRusso?’  _ But he doesn’t, because he realises it’s not a joke at all, it’s true, he would. Well, he would think about it at least. 

Would Johnny do the same for him?

Daniel looks up at him then, locks him in place with his big, brown eyes.

Yes, he would. 

“But I shouldn’t go over the edge,” Daniel goes on, “I shouldn’t  _ want _ to do that to a person.” 

“You didn’t go over the edge, man, you thought about it, but you didn’t,” Johnny says.

“If Sam hadn’t shown up I-”

“Hey,” Johnny puts a firmer hand on his knee, makes him look at him, “you don’t know what you would’ve done, alright? I don’t think you'd have killed the bastard... But I know what you  _ did _ . You saved my life.” 

As yet, he hasn’t said those words out loud, but he’s thought them, _ ‘Daniel LaRusso saved my life,’  _ over and over in the quiet of his apartment. 

They share that, Johnny saying it, they feel the weight of it between them.

“Johnny…”

“You did,” Johnny says firmly, swallowing because his throat is dry, “so you shouldn’t worry about not living up to Mr Miyagi, you're copying all his moves,” the side of his mouth raises in half a smile. He sees the words soften Daniel’s expression some. 

“That means a lot,” Daniel says, “seriously.”

Johnny nods, going to remove his hand from his knee when Daniel’s palm tentatively covers it. A warm, buzzing feeling floods Johnny’s stomach. He doesn’t move his hand.

They touch all the time during classes, but never like this. 

“Sometimes I just get in my own head,” Daniel says, talking like they aren’t practically holding hands, “worry I’m just-” he visibly struggles for the words, “a bad person, pretending to be a good one.”  
  
At that, Johnny can’t help but snort, breaking the growing malaise in the room - Daniel looks at him properly. Maybe it hadn’t been the best reaction, but Johnny couldn’t stop it. 

“Are you stupid?” Johnny says; mild confusion knits Daniel’s brow, not expecting that reaction, “Look, I usually prefer to be drunk before talking to people like this,” he looks past Daniel’s shoulder for a moment, psyching himself up for sincerity, “but you might be the best person I know, alright? I’m not blowing smoke up your ass - you know we don’t always see eye to eye, but you’re such a good person that it pisses me off.” 

Daniel smiles a bit, “You don’t have to say that.” 

“I know I don’t,” Johnny says, “honestly it kills me to give you props like this.”

Then, Daniel laughs and Johnny feels a million times better for it. 

“Can’t have you walking around thinking you’re a bad person, dumbass,” Johnny says and he does the next thing that feels right, because he hates the idea that Daniel has been walking around feeling like this for weeks.

He shuffles across the space between them to sit beside Daniel on the mat and puts his arm around his shoulders. Daniel doesn’t look at him, doesn’t tense up like Johnny thinks  _ he _ would - he just lets out a very long breath and shuffles closer to him so he can lean against his side. 

When Daniel puts his head in the crook of his neck and keeps it there, Johnny lets out a breath too, because he realises that it feels like a relief to talk and touch like this. It feels exactly right.

He tightens his hold just a little on Daniel’s shoulders, so he knows he isn’t going anywhere, and enjoys the warmth of him and the tickle of his dark hair on his neck even though he’s not sure he _should_ be enjoying those things so much. 

“This is alright, right?” Johnny asks. 

“Yeah, this is alright, Johnny.” 

**Author's Note:**

> i just love them your honour
> 
> talk to me on tumblr (please): bloodyholly.tumblr.com


End file.
